Homeless people could not be offered temporary shelter as Storm Debi approached Galway due to local authority staffing shortages, the Galway Advertiser has learned.
Galway City Council’s Severe Weather Coordination Team was in contact with local homeless charities, but in their initial debrief after Storm Debi, officials confirmed they could not muster enough staff to open Westside Community Centre as a temporary shelter. The council’s annual Cold Weather Response plan to accommodate rough sleepers over the winter does not commence until late November.
Cope and Simon staff and volunteers reportedly attempted to warn rough sleepers around the city of the impending storm, but worsening conditions meant they could not get to every location around the city.
Elena Palmova has been sleeping under an awning at the back of Galway Docks for eight months since she was made homeless after 18 years of renting. “I was very scared. I woke up with waves coming over. I didn’t know about storm except a man gave me some old sail canvas to cover me on Sunday. I’ve had four phones stolen so I don’t have anymore. I thought I would be washed away. Just gone.”
Also on a ledge by the docks, Stephen Bracken said he slept through the storm after “filling myself with vodka for warmth.” Recently assaulted and sporting four broken ribs, the former actor said he also no longer carried a mobile phone to dissuade muggers. “This morning I woke up to see metal gangplanks [in the Mud Dock] washed away and mangled. It could have been me.”
Housing charity Threshold released its annual report this week, showing it worked with 12,000 households deemed to be at risk of homelessness across Ireland last year. This is a 12% increase on its 2021 report.
